Berrics

Okay, I’m really going to try and stay positive on this one…..really. Lil Wayne likes to ride skateboards now. Maybe you’ve heard this already. Fine…..just fine. He was inspired by Alex Midler, so he decided to pick up a board and become a “skater boy.” Again fine….just fine. Then things changed. Then he started his own “skate company.” He’s now pushing around with some professionals, he’s on the Berrics, and he’s getting shine from a ton of people including Lil Stevie. Then he went and said “Yes, I made skateboarding cool,” and now he has a signature shoe for Supra……maybe the Mayans were right.

photo courtesy of ditcradio.com

On the positive side, he’s taken some decent slams and continues to get back up. He’s trying to get better at skating, and seems to really be putting his heart into it. I like to see that. He’s promoting skateboarding, and clearly he has a lot of people listening. These are all good things. I do however have some serious concerns.

photo courtesy of livemusiccityblog.com

Dear Dwayne-

You did not make skateboarding cool. Please be careful about what you say and how you approach the world of skateboarding. For many of us skateboarding has been cool since you were in diapers. I’m only 4 years older than you my friend, and yet skateboarding has been cool for me since 1984. For others skateboarding has been cool since before Jay Adams made it cool. For others skateboarding has been cool since before Nashworthy urethane became the norm. For many of us skateboarding was cool when the world loved us, then when they hated us, when they thought we disappeared, and then when they loved us again. Skateboarding was cool when we were beat up just for skateboarding. Skateboarding was cool even when most girls hated us for skateboarding. Skateboarding was cool when…as an only child in the streets, my friends and my board were my escape.

I’m glad to hear that you are promoting skating, and it’s a good thing that some kids now think skateboarding is cool because of you. Again though I ask that you are careful in your words and actions. Right now there are kids sleeping in cars and on couches in Southern California just to get sponsored and make a life out of skateboarding. Those kids are hungry as fuck. Those kids would kill for a shoe on Supra. Those kids are what make skateboarding cool.

Congratulations on your success in the music world. I don’t like your music at all, but I give you credit for coming from meager beginnings and succeeding like very few ever have. I ask that as you move forward, please set a decent example for our kids in any way that you can. Don’t tell kids to drink Mt. Dew, let alone mix it with Codeine and Jolly Ranchers (you should stop that shit too by the way, it sounds fucking horrible). Set a good example in terms of skateboarding as well. Don’t forget, that for many of us it is not a passing fad. Skateboarding is who we are. There is a storied history to our world. Have some respect for that.

Thanks-

cc:aka:bt

P.S. A couple of tips here too……watch Gonz skate as much as you possibly can, and start listening to Dead Prez. You’ll thank me for both later.

pre·si·di·o [pri-sid-ee-oh]
n. pl. pre·si·di·os [-sid-ee-ohz]
A garrison, especially a fortress of the kind established in the southwest United States by the Spanish to protect their holdings and missions.

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